This lack of consistent, long-term funding — and resulting
uncertainty — has caused headaches for states, which depend on
these dollars to keep their transit systems running and to fund
new construction projects.

In Virginia, 44 rural transit systems “would probably shut
down” if they lost federal funding, Nick Donahue, Deputy
Secretary of the Virginia Department of Transportation, said at
aPew Charitable Trustsevent in
April.

To cope with this uncertainty, states have had to look
elsewhere for transportation funding, which causes even more
headaches. At the same Pew conference, director of the
Washington, DC Department of Transportation, Leif Dormsjo,
discussed the importance of Federal guidance.

“The impact [of saying no to federal funds] is a lack of
oversight and lack of technical assistance from the federal
government,” Dormsjo said. “Not that working with those [federal]
partners is enjoyable or an efficient process, but it does have
benefits.”

Without long-term funding for transportation projects, the
already crumbling infrastructure in this country stands to get
even worse.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx addressed the
gravity of the situation.

“If we are left with the same infrastructure, and frankly,
if we maintain the infrastructure that we have,” Foxx said. “The
reality is that a 30-minute commute or 40-minute commute could
end up becoming twice that in the next 30 years.”